Part 45

=339. Costumes.= P. pays his girls (five in number), each, $3 a week. They work from eight to five o'clock. He has no difficulty in getting hands. Anybody that can sew can make costumes, but it requires taste for the design and arrangement of such as his--theatrical. B.'s girls sew at the house, 9½ hours in winter, and the best earn from $3 to $4 a week. Their costumes are theatrical, and are very slightly put together. A slow, careful sewer would not answer for them. They want their work done so that it will rip up easily. They have many costumes on hand for sale. They have a lady cutter. They give employment but four months, and they are in winter. W., employed in both flag and costume making, has been in the business since 1822, and employs six girls all the year. Flags, costumes, &c., used in the South, have always been ordered in New York, so there will be some openings in the South for such work. W. pays $3 and $4 a week to his best hands, and has his sewing done in the house. His work is of a superior quality, and, consequently, commands a good price. He employs only correct and fast sewers. He thinks there are openings for girls of good moral character, properly qualified. A lady cutting out costumes told me that it requires judgment to make the two halves alike--sleeves, for instance; also to know in how short a time an article can be made up, where and how to get workers, &c. It is difficult to get good hands, and some of the materials are costly--so they do not like to give work to any one they do not know. A spangler receives from them 62½ cents a day. Mrs. T. employs a number of hands, paying $3 a week to those that work in the house--ten hours a day. Those that take their work home are, of course, paid by the piece. She does all her own cutting out. It requires ability to fit, ingenuity to design, and taste to execute. Spangling pays best. She had a lady tinselling and spangling for her, that made a good living at it. She does opera and theatrical work, mostly. She makes some ball costumes also. Equestrian work she does not like, as it is pretty much made up of horse trappings. The prospect for those who would learn it well, she thinks very good. She finds it difficult to get superior workers. The girls that sew for costumers are mostly those who prefer that to going out to do housework, because they can have their evenings as their own. It is usual to have a costumer travel with an opera troupe, who directs and superintends the making up of costumes, and dresses the prima donna before she makes her appearance on the stage. Mrs. S. takes learners, paying them half price for two or three months, while learning. She makes up most after Thanksgiving, for the Christmas festivities; but in summer she makes up some ball costumes, and apparel and drapery for tableaux, and operas at watering places. She has from one to two hundred women and girls sewing for her at different times. Frequently she is very much hurried, and must employ a great many to assist, for bills announcing operas are often out before the costume is brought to her. At W.'s, they pay $3 a week--ten hours a day--and are most busy about Christmas.

=340. Dresses.= In Germany, many dress makers are men, and there is one on Broadway, New York. France is the fountain head of fashion for ladies' dress. Most of the fashions, however, are Americanized when introduced into this country. Dress is, to some extent, an index to the mind of the wearer. Judgment and good taste are the best guides. Several things are to be taken into consideration--age, complexion, proportion, means, station, comfort, and decorum. A lady, with command of a full purse, can dress as she pleases. Rich and elegant clothing, appropriately made, is an ornament, and well becomes those that can afford it. With a scant purse, a lady cannot dress very handsomely, yet she may always observe neatness and propriety of costume. A passion for dress is apt to betray an empty mind or great vanity. Much of the beauty of a dress depends on its tasteful make. If the figure is bad, it improves it. If good, it adds to the beauty of the figure, which is one of the most impressive modifications of beauty. In dress making, a lady has only to establish a reputation as a successful fitter and fashionable trimmer, and she will be sure of a run of custom and handsome profits. I am sorry to say, in the majority of dress-making establishments, no reliance can be placed on the word of the principals, in regard to the time work will be finished. While many of those at the head of dress-making establishments are realizing dazzling profits, the poor sempstress, working in busy times from twelve to sixteen hours out of the twenty-four, receives the generous allowance of from $1.50 to $4.50 a week. But few, and those only of much skill, taste, and dexterity, ever gain better prices. Fitters and forewomen, in some places, gain from $4 to $7 per week. I believe it is generally thought men fit better than women, so many ladies have their basques and riding habits made at tailors' establishments. We do not see why the plan used by tailors, of fitting by measure, is not more generally applied to dress fitting. Dress making is more fatiguing than millinery work, because you have to sit at it more steadily and there is more sameness in it. Spring and fall are the most busy seasons. Those who can secure sewing in good families, and have some decent place to go in the intervals, are better off than most others. They receive from 50 cents to $1.25 per day and their dinner. It would probably require a little time to become known; and one, to succeed, must know how to do all parts, from the fitting to the finishing off; so it requires skill and a thorough knowledge of the business. A lady who sews by the day told me she often gets her system out of order by the different food of the several families she is in, and the different times of taking it. We think there are no regular hours for those who work by the day in New York. The length of the day depends on the mercy of the employer. "Dress makers in Boston, some years ago, adopted the ten-hour system, and now average $1.25 per day. Previously they received but 75 cents or $1." The demand for dress makers in the Northern and Eastern States is fully met, but throughout the South and West there are openings, here and there, for good dress makers. There is probably no occupation in which there are so many incompetent persons as that of dress making. Many persons take it up without having learned the trade at all, and many who become reduced in circumstances immediately resort to it without any preparation, and are destitute, not only of experience, but of skill, ingenuity, and taste. In New York, the conditions on which apprentices are taken vary greatly. Some pay nothing for six months, and even receive $10 or $15 for instruction. The girls are kept at making up skirts, sewing up sleeves, and such plain work, and so learn nothing during the time. Some are taken for a year, and boarded during that time for their work. Some live at home, and are paid from $1.50 to $2.50 for their work. Some are taken for two years, to learn the trade thoroughly, and work from eight to twelve hours a day. Some apprentices have not the ability to become good fitters and sewers, and are destitute of artistic taste; but women seldom change from one employment to another on discovering their incompetency. The majority, probably, have not the time or means of doing so. Miss B. says those who sew for dress makers receive from $2.50 to $4 a week, working ten hours a day. Apprentices that can sew right well when they commence, receive at some houses $2 a week for six months, but they are not taught to fit unless the employer is a conscientious woman and there is a special contract. When the busy season is over, the inferior hands are turned off without an hour's warning. It is desirable to get a good class of customers, that the pay will be sure, and that the dress maker may know what to rely on. Some dress makers in New York have kept the patterns of ladies in the South, and made their dresses for years. If a slight change was needed, for instance, the length increased, or the waist made smaller, or _vice versa_, the lady wrote accordingly. Miss B. never works for servants. They do not pay as well, and are just as particular as their mistresses. She never works for a stranger, unless recommended by one of her customers. Mrs. C. told me that a girl of fair abilities can learn dress making in six months. The first three months she does not pay anything, but the last three $1 a week. After they have learned she pays according to their taste, skill, and industry. One girl, that has good taste in trimming and finishing off, she pays $4 a week; another, that sews well and is industrious, but deficient in taste, she pays $2. They all live at home. Those girls that live at home are often willing to work for less than the ordinary wages, as they are not at the greatest of all expenses--boarding. They work from seven in the morning until six, having an hour at noon. They prefer it to the hours of some of the Broadway shops, which are usually from eight to seven. By the first arrangement they are enabled to get home early and go to any place of amusement. Miss H. told me that three years ago she earned $7 per week, ten hours a day, sewing for a French lady on Broadway, who had a great run of Southern custom. There were many strangers in the city at the time. "Servant girls seldom pay over $1 for making a dress; yet 10,000 servant girls in New York city, will have from three to six and eight new dresses a year." At Wilson's Industrial School, New York, some of the older girls are taught dress making.

=341. Dress Caps and Head Dresses.= The making of ladies' dress caps is an extensive and important branch of business. The rates at which they are now put together, enable most ladies to buy them already made. In large cities there are separate establishments for the sale of them, but in smaller towns they are sold at milliner shops. Much taste should be, and generally is, exercised in this department of business. In London, on the streets, the caps and bonnets exposed for sale are placed in inverted umbrellas. On summing up what was told me by eight manufacturers of dress caps and head dresses, I find the prices they pay the women who sew for them, run from $2 a week to $10--the average $4. Some pay by the week, but most by the piece, which is usually most profitable to the worker, and most satisfactory to both parties. Superior hands prefer to work by the piece, and, when working for first-class stores, earn from $6 to $8 per week. There is a scarcity of good hands in New York, and I would advise some ladies to learn. Taste, and swiftness of fingers are required. The finer and more delicate the hands of a worker the better. Some are employed all the year, but the majority are not. The busy season begins in January and lasts till the middle of May, and begins in September and lasts till the middle of October, when city work usually commences. Some houses, in the intervals, make up for the city trade. The South has depended almost entirely on the North for the supply of these articles. There will be openings in the South for establishments of the kind. One keeper of a large fancy store said to me, there are not more than ten first-class makers of dress caps in New York. He thought the Irish succeed, many of whom learn in the convents of their own country to use the needle well. Hands employed by the week usually work ten hours a day. Most people prefer to employ the hands they have had. The best place for learning is in a shop confined to the city trade. Mrs. D. devotes herself to making up caps for the dead, but employs sewers to make ladies' dress caps. It requires time to get to making them tastefully and rapidly. An experienced hand can earn from $4 to $6 a week, piecework. It is thought three months' time is necessary for learning, and during that time a girl cannot earn over $1 a week. Mrs. D. says some can earn but eight or nine cents a day while learning, and become discouraged and give it up. She will not trust any but experienced hands, on account of the loss of materials, for when badly cut, they cannot be altered into anything else, and, when they have to be ripped, lose their stiffening, and are only fit for the scrap bag. They can soon judge of hands by their appearance, the way they sew, and knowing for whom they have worked, and the kind of work that house turns out. They always require reference or deposit. They keep their hands all the year, making caps part of the year to send away, and the remainder of the year for city trade. Ladies' dress caps have been superseded to a great extent by fancy head dresses and flowers. Miss C., Broadway, told me her best hands earn, by the piece, from $6 to $7 per week. It requires three months to learn the business. Learners, that have some knowledge of sewing, receive from her $1 a week. Judgment, in size, form, and manner of putting together, is desirable. The busy seasons are spring and fall. There is rather a deficiency of good hands in New York, and in busy seasons it is sometimes difficult to get enough of indifferent hands. The French are very successful, on account of their cultivated taste. I was told that Mme. D. employs two Austrian girls that invent beautiful styles of head dresses. Mr. D. says the person that has the taste and ingenuity to invent pleasing styles will receive a good price. He had to pay $4 a dozen more for a new style of head dresses imported not long ago from Paris, merely because it was of a new design. He playfully remarked: "Fancy goods must bring fancy prices." A woman that has lived in Paris, and been engaged in the business there, and accustomed to observing the fashions and inventing them, would receive a high salary. He pays from $6 to $9 a week, according to qualifications. The abilities and taste of a person have much to do with the time of learning--six months are usually given. He pays $3 a week to smart learners. He sells rather more goods in fall, as ladies are then preparing for balls and parties. He prefers to have foreigners to work for him, as he is himself a foreigner. His store girls leave at 6 P. M. Those that board pay $3 a week. In most stores for the sale of ladies' fancy articles, the ladies in attendance make up such articles, when not waiting on customers. From a larger establishment, the superintendent sent me the following report: "Women earn from $4 to $10 per week, being paid by the piece. It requires from three months to one year to learn the business. After six weeks, the hands are paid a small trifle. Women are employed about eight months in the year, but first-class hands find employment always. In busy seasons the work must be done--so hands cannot limit themselves to time, but must be employed late and early. The demand for first-class hands is great, and enough cannot be found. I employ from one hundred and fifty to two hundred on an average. Most of my hands are foreigners, and married women that live at home."

=342. Fans.= In most ages, and in most countries, the fan has been used as much by gentlemen as ladies. In Japan, everybody carries a fan. "In M. Duveleroy's fan establishment--the largest in Paris--each fan, from the commonest to the most costly, passes through fifteen hands before it is ready for use and the retailer." The palm-leaf fans, which have been so much in vogue for years past, are made to some extent in the Eastern States. Fans are sometimes made of feathers. Peacock, duck, turkey, and those of small birds are employed. As in other manufactures, the capital required, the risk run, the want of operatives acquainted with the business, and the comparative highness of wages have hitherto debarred any one from undertaking the manufacture of fans extensively in the United States. Taste is necessary for a fan maker. A man that has been making fans for two years in New York, told me he took it up from repairing fans. He cannot keep materials enough on hand, because suitable feathers are high and difficult to get. He is raising some peacocks and white turkeys, that he may have the feathers for making fans. The women he employed last year he paid by the piece, and they earned from $5 to $6 per week. He will employ more women in the course of a year or two.

=343. Ladies' Under-Wear.= A sempstress in New York can seldom earn more than seventy-five cents a day--fifty is the more usual sum. At Mrs. C. & Co.'s, all the work is done by hand. They employ by the week and by the piece. They will not allow goods to be taken out unless they know the person to be reliable, because they find it difficult to get work back at the time promised. They sell most articles made up, about Christmas, and in the spring. People do not have half so much sewing done out as they used to, because so many own sewing machines, and they are not willing to pay the same prices that they formerly did. Some women that live and dress well in New York, take in sewing to obtain pinmoney. She mentioned one lady that came dressed in her elegant furs and point lace, and got sewing, she said, for a sick young friend; but when she came back, she said the friend was not able to do it, and so she did it herself, and would like to have more. She lived in style on ---- street. The cutters of under-wear, who are competent and responsible, can earn $6 per week, and even more, but it requires considerable experience. A lady that has sewing done told me that nothing pays so poorly as white work. She requires a sample of work and a deposit from any one that takes sewing out, to the amount of the value of the article. A lady that has most beautiful under-wear made up for ladies in New York and in the South, told me her Southern orders have all ceased. Her work is mostly done by hand. She has a forewoman that bastes and cuts. She has not less than ten or twelve applicants every day for work. Some of her hands earn $5 or $6 a week, and others work just as long and do not earn $3. Some of her workers can earn $4 by embroidering, but sewing generally pays best. She pays her operator by the piece--so much a yard. When she had Southern orders, she sent goods by express, and the express collected the money on the goods. If the money was not paid by those who had ordered the goods, the express would not deliver them, but returned them. They were responsible for their return, in case they were not paid for. In the first place, something was paid for transmitting and collecting; in the latter, for transmitting both ways. Many ladies used to send their measures and directions, and she would make up accordingly. She finds bridal apparel most profitable. In large cities there is a small demand for the costume of artists, sea bathers, and practisers of gymnastics. At the Employment House, B., I was told they have more applications than they can attend to, for plain sewing; but fine sewing it is more difficult to get done. Fine sewing pays for itself very well, but coarse does not. At L. & T.'s, New York, they have every branch done, and pay sewers by hand as good prices as operators. A right neat and fast sempstress can earn $6 a week: it is piecework. Operators can earn $5 or $6. Part of the work is done in the building, and part is given out. At first they found it difficult to get superior sewers, but they have plenty now. They have sometimes employed 375 hands. About half their women are Americans. It is usual for the forewoman to do the cutting, and she can earn from $6 to $12. When they pay by the week, the girls work from 8 A. M. to 6 P. M., and have three fourths of an hour at noon. They pay by the week for making mantillas and cloaks. It is most profitable to the employées to pay by the piece. Their customers can rely on their work, and are willing to pay a good price for hand sewing. A lady that supplies under-wear told me that she finds it difficult to obtain any one that is reliable to give her work to--one that she can be sure will do her work well at the proper time. She pays those that work in the house $3 a week, of ten hours a day. Neatness, care, and expedition, she requires of her hands. There is an abundance of indifferent hands, but a scarcity of superior ones.

=344. Over Gaiters.= R., Philadelphia, employs fifty girls. Some of the gaiters are made by sewing machines, and some are stitched by hand. Makers earn from $3 to $5 a week. Most of the work is done in the establishment--some is taken out.

=345. Patterns.= In large cities there is a constant call for a supply of new patterns; consequently stores are kept for the purpose of cutting and selling them. A dress and cloak making establishment is frequently connected with them. The sale of patterns to dress and cloak makers in the South and West is considerable--greater, perhaps, than that in the city. T., and Mme. D., are the leaders of this branch in New York. Mme. D. has in pattern making mostly young girls. A large room of young girls requires but two or three ladies to assist and direct. It takes but little time to learn. She does not pay until they have learned, and then pays young girls $1 a week and upward. T., son of the editor of the _Bon Ton_, told me their fashion magazines have a circulation of three thousand, mostly among milliners and dress makers. The plates are colored in Paris. Leslie's and Godey's plates are colored in this country. T.'s takes six French publications devoted to the fashions. They look over plates and select such styles as they think will be popular. They have a lady in Paris who writes to them from there, describing the fashions. They employ a lady in connection with their pattern making who, by looking at the plates, is able to cut out a mantle, sleeve, &c., exactly like the plates. Some ladies could never learn to do so. They employ ladies, both in pattern cutting and dress making, and pay from $3 to $5 per week--to a competent forewoman, $10 and $15. Women are paid small wages while learning. Their business is advancing--has advanced most during the last few years. Their trade is Eastern, Western, and Southern--mostly Southern. Their girls are employed from 8 A. M. to 6 P. M.; having an hour at noon. In the pattern business, there are just about enough of hands in New York. Spring and fall are the busy seasons. E. G. says the busy season commences the middle of January, when she is willing to receive learners. She gives instruction for nothing for one month; after that, she pays $2.50 a week, if successful, and continues to increase salary according to the abilities of the individual. A good hand can earn $5 per week, working ten hours a day. Another lady told me that in pattern making she gives instruction two months, paying nothing, but then they can earn $2.50, and, as they become more expert, can earn $3, $3.50, and $4. They are paid by the week, and it would be impossible to pay by the piece. It requires practice to become an expert cutter. She prefers, for pattern cutting, young girls from twelve to fifteen years old. In large cities, some women go around to cut patterns, sell stays, embroidery, &c.